Ltr. to State Dept. from 90 Bolivia - LatAm Experts to Reveal Bolivia Funding

[magbana]

ABIDING IN BOLIVIA
Saturday, September 20, 2008
90 experts on Bolivia and Latin America ask State Dept. to reveal Bolivia funding

http://casa-del-duderino.blogspot.com/2008/09/90-experts-on-bolivia-and-latin-america.html

Don't take my word on the shadiness of US funding for political opposition groups in Bolivia and their racist, violent tactics. Take the word of these 90 Bolivia and Latin America experts! woot! Their letter to the US State Department in full:

To Dr. Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State

Cc: Phillip Goldberg, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia
Henrietta Fore, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
Representative Eliot Engel, Chair, Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Committee of Foreign Affairs
Senator John McCain
Senator Barack Obama

Dear Dr. Rice,
We are writing out of deep concern over recent events in Bolivia that have left dozens dead and cost millions of dollars in lost revenue to the Bolivian government and the Bolivian people. We are especially concerned that the United States government, by its own admission, is supporting opposition groups and individuals in Bolivia that have been involved in the recent whole-scale destruction, violence, and killings, above all in the departments of Santa Cruz, Pando, and Chuquisaca.

Since the United States government refuses to disclose many of the recipients of its funding and support, there is currently no way to determine the degree to which this support is helping people involved in violence, sabotage, and other extra-legal means to destabilize the government of Bolivia.

Yet since the democratic election of Evo Morales in December 2005, the U.S. government has sent millions of dollars in aid to departmental prefects and municipal governments in Bolivia. In 2004, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) opened an "Office of Transition Initiatives" (OTI) in Bolivia, which provided some $11 million in funds to "build on its activities designed to enhance the capacity of departmental governments."<1>

The OTI in Bolivia sought to " the capacity of prefect-led departmental governments to help them better respond to the constituencies they govern," and even brought departmental governors to the U.S. to meet with state governors.<2> Some of these same departmental governments later launched organized campaigns to push for "autonomy" and to oppose through violent and undemocratic means the Morales government and its popular reforms.

According to the OTI, it ceased operations in Bolivia about a year ago; however some of its activities were then taken up by USAID, which refuses to disclose some of its recipients and programs. USAID spent $89 million in Bolivia last year. This is a significant sum relative to the size of Bolivia's economy; proportionally in the U.S. economy it would be equivalent to about $100 billion, or close to what the United States is currently spending on military operations in Iraq.

U.S. taxpayers, as well as the Bolivian government and people, have a right to know what U.S. funds are supporting in Bolivia.

On August 10, a national recall referendum was held in which Bolivian voters had the opportunity to vote on whether the President, the Vice-President, and eight of nine departmental prefects should continue in office. President Evo Morales and Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera won with more than 67 percent of the vote, much more than President Morales' original electoral victory in 2005, which had the largest margin in the country's electoral history.

The recent opposition violence appears to be an organized response to this mandate, attempting to use extra-legal means to win what the opposition could not gain at the ballot box. This includes the National Democratic Council (CONALDE), composed of "five provincial governors, business associations, conservative civic groups, and legislators of the rightwing Podemos party led by former president Jorge Quiroga."<3>

Perhaps most alarming is the recent evidence of close collusion and cooperation between the departmental governments and violent groups such as the UJC (Unión Juventud Cruceña, or Union of Santa Cruz Youth) and the Santa Cruz Civic Committee. As a new campaign of violence began following the August 10 recall referendum, a Reuters journalist interviewing Santa Cruz opposition leader and prominent businessman Branko Marinkovic witnessed UJC members going into Marinkovic's office and coming out with baseball bats.<4> Even more startling is evidence that the events of the past two weeks are the result of a deliberate decision by the opposition coalition CONALDE to pursue a campaign of violence. Media reports describe how opposition Podemos legislators were ejected from an early September CONALDE meeting after voicing opposition to the violent methods under discussion.<5>

News articles in the past week further noted the support from some departmental prefects and other regional government officials' for the violence. "The conservative governors are … encouraging the protesters in their actions," Agence France Presse reported, adding that, "The opposition coalition, which also includes town mayors, have focused their attention on the main source of Bolivia's income: the natural gas fields that lie in their eastern half of the country," and "Militants linked to the opposition group set up road blocks to add pressure to the governors' demands for more control over gas revenues." <6>

The racist nature of the UJC and other hate groups is well known and documented. These groups have focused their attacks mostly on indigenous MAS (governing party) supporters. In May, for example, members of the "Interinstitutional Committee," composed of civic and local leaders, and other youth militants forcibly marched indigenous and peasant supporters of President Morales to the city center of Sucre (Chuquisaca), beat them, stripped them of clothing, and forced them to chant anti-Morales slogans while berating them with racist taunts.<7>

As you know, at least 15 people have been killed in the past several days in Pando alone - the great majority of them Bolivian peasants and farmers - in what eyewitnesses describe as a massacre by assassins with machine guns. The Bolivian government has arrested Pando prefect Leopoldo Fernández in connection with the killings.

This violence, which has been accompanied by sabotage that has caused extensive economic damage, is utterly deplorable, and should be condemned from every quarter. Yet the U.S. government response has been weak. Before the extent of the massacre was known, and before the Bolivian government had declared U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg to be persona non grata, many had already been killed and economic damage done. Yet as of September 12, according to its website, the U.S. State Department had said only that it regrets the expulsion of Ambassador Goldberg and that this "reflects the weakness and desperation " and "an inability to communicate effectively internationally in order to build international support," and suggested that the Bolivian government is not improving the well-being of its citizens.<8>

The State Department website shows no statement between May 5, 2008 and September 11, 2008,<9> indicating that the State Department failed to condemn the violence in recent months, and also failed to congratulate President Evo Morales on his overwhelming victory in the August 10 referendum.

We call on the U.S. government to turn a new page in its relations with Latin America by clearly and unequivocally condemning the violent, destructive and anti-democratic means employed by members of Bolivia's pro-"autonomy" opposition. Most importantly, Washington must also disclose its funding for groups inside Bolivia - through USAID and other agencies - and reveal the names of the recipients of these funds. The U.S. government must cease any and all support - financial or otherwise - to any group or person in Bolivia and other Latin American countries that engages in violent, destructive, terrorist, or anti-democratic activities such as we have witnessed with great shock and sadness in the past weeks in Bolivia.

Sincerely,

Ben Achtenberg, Refuge Media Project, Boston, MA

Emily Achtenberg, Housing Policy & Development Consultant, Boston MA

Robert Albro, Assistant Professor of Antrhpology, School of International Service, American University

Juan Manuel Arbona, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College

Byrna Aronson, Boston, MA

Teo Ballvé, Journalist, former editor of North American Congress on Latin America Report on the Americas

Ericka Beckman, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Charles Bergquist, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Washington

John Beverley, Professor of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh

Michelle Bigenho, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Hampshire College

Lina Britto, Ph. D. Candidate, Department of History, New York University

Beverlee Bruce, Ph.D., Program Associate, Planning Alternatives for Change, New York City

Marisol de la Cadena, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California-Davis

Joaquín Chavez, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History, New York University

Mike Davis, Distinguished Professor of Non-Fiction, University of California-Riverside

Nicole Dettmann-Quisbert, Sudbury, MA

Luis Duno-Gottberg, Associate Professor of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, Rice University

Arturo Escobar, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Duke University

Nicole Fabricant, Ph. D. Candidate, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University

Samuel Farber, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Brooklyn College

Sujatha Fernandes, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Queens College

Lesley Gill, Professor of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University

Marcial Godoy-Anativia, Associate Director, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, New York University

Daniel Goldstein, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University

Manu Goswami, Associate Professor of History, New York University

Greg Grandin, Professor of History, New York University

Bret Gustafson, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Washington University

Charles R. Hale, Professor of Anthropology, University of Texas-Austin, former president of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA)

Jack Hammond, Professor of Sociology, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center

Daniel Hellinger, Professor of Political Science, Webster University

Eric Hershberg, President, Latin American Studies Association (LASA)

Doug Hertzler, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Eastern Mennonite University

Kathryn Hicks, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Memphis

Connie Hogarth, Center for Social Action, Manhattanville College

Forrest Hylton, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of History, New York University

Rachel Kahn-Hunt, Professor Emerita of Sociology, San Francisco State University

Caren Kaplan, Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, University of California-Davis

Laura Kaplan, Bronx Community College

Steven Karakashian, Milwaukie, OR

Marie Kennedy, Visiting Professor of Urban Planning, UCLA, Professor Emerita of Urban Planning, University of Massachusetts-Boston

Eben Kirksey, Ph.D., National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Santa Clara University

Naomi Klein, Journalist

Benjamin Kohl, Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University

James Krippner, Associate Professor of History, Haverford College

Richard Krushnic, City of Boston, Department of Neighborhood Development, Boston, MA

Maria Lagos, Associate Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Lehman College, CUNY

Amy S. Lang, Professor of English and Humanities, Syracuse University

Daniel Lang/Levitsky, New York, NY

Brooke Larson, Professor of History, State University of New York-Stony Brook

Catherine LeGrand, Associate Professor of History, McGill University

Florencia E. Mallon, Julieta Kirkwood Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Angela Marino Segura, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, New York University

Francine Masiello, Acker Professor of Humanities, University of California-Berkeley

Marie-Josée Massicotte, Director, International Studies and Modern Languages, University of Ottawa

Richard Monks, Vice-President, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 877

Elizabeth Monasterios, Professor of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh

Pablo Morales, Editor, NACLA Report on the Americas, New York, NY

Mary Nolan, Professor of History, New York University

Lisette Olivares, Ph.D. Candidate, History of Consciousness, University of California-Santa Cruz

Almerindo E. Ojeda, Professor of Linguistics, Director of the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, University of California-Davis

Andrew Orta, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Deborah Poole, Professor of Anthropology, Director, Program in Latin American Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Nancy Postero, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of California-San Diego

Seemin Qayum, Independent Scholar and Development Consultant, New York, NY

Peter Ranis, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, City University of New York Graduate Center

David C. Ranney, Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois-Chicago

Gerardo Renique, Associate Professor of History, City College-CUNY

Marcus Rediker, Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh

Christina Rojas, Director, Program for International Studies, Carleton University, Montreal, CA

Nancy Romer, Brooklyn College & Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, AFT #2334

Fred Rosen, Senior Analyst, North American Congress on Latin America

Karen B. Rosen, Cambridge, MA

Karin Rosemblatt, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park

Frances Rothstein, Professor of Anthropology, Montclair State University

Ethel S. Ruymaker, Oakland, CA

Tamara Lea Spira, Ph.D. Candidate, History of Consciousness, University of California-Santa Cruz

Kent Spriggs, Spriggs Law Firm, Tallahassee, FL

Diana Steinberg, Boston, MA

Marcia Stephenson, Associate Professor of Spanish, Purdue University

Steve Striffler, Zemurray Chair in Latin American Studies, University of New Orleans

Estelle Tarica, Associate Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of California-Berkeley

Sinclair Thomson, Associate Professor of History, New York University

Marilyn Young, Professor of History, New York University

George Yudice, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, American Studies, and Latin American Studies, University of Miami

Jeffrey R. Webber, Ph. D. Candidate, Political Science, University of Toronto

Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington, DC

John Womack, Robert Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, Harvard University

Patricia A. Wright, Retired Urban Scholar, University of Illinois-Chicago

Carol Zuckerman, MD, Boston, MA

Rosanna Zuckerman, Boston, MA
<1> USAID/OTI Bolivia Field Report, July - September 2006.

<2> Ibid.

<3> Franz Chávez, "BOLIVIA: Divisions Emerge in Opposition Strategy." Inter Press Service. September 4, 2008.

<4> Eduardo Garcia, "Foes of Morales stage general strike in Bolivia." Reuters. August 19, 2008. Found at http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN1925747220080819

<5> Franz Chávez, "BOLIVIA: Divisions Emerge in Opposition Strategy." Inter Press Service. September 4, 2008.

<6> Agence France Presse, "Bolivia orders US ambassador out, warns of civil war." September 11, 2008.

<7> Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Press Release, "IACHR Deplores Violence In Bolivia And Urges Punishment Of Those Responsible." N° 22/08. May 29, 2008. Accessed at http://www.cidh.org/Comunicados/English/2008/22.08eng.htm on September 16, 2008, 5:52pm EST.

<8> U.S. Department of State Press Statement, "Expulsion of U.S. Ambassadors to Venezuela and Bolivia." September 12, 2008. Accessed at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/sept/109534.htm on September 16, 2008, 4:46pm EST.

<9> U.S. Department of State website: Bolivia - Releases. Accessed at http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/bl/c7579.htm on September 16, 2008,4:35pm EST.
Posted by El Duderino at 6:33 PM

[Judi Lynn]

1. Important document. Great seeing these people go on record formally. One of them has written

an article which should be noted, as it's very helpful:

September 17, 2008

The Paramilitary Massacre in Bolivia
Reactionary Rampage
By FORREST HYLTON

Bolivian President Evo Morales’ expulsion of US Ambassador Phillip Goldberg on September 10 for alleged coup plotting sparked the latest diplomatic crisis in the Americas. But the diplomatic fallout has overshadowed the internal dynamics that led to the massacre of some 30 campesinos with perhaps as many as 40 more disappeared in El Porvenir, Pando, near Bolivia’s northeastern border with Brazil. The massacre coincided with the 35th anniversary of the violent overthrow of socialist president Salvador Allende in Chile.

The massacre in El Porvenir was the worst in Bolivia since right-wing President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada presided over the slaughter of more than 70 unarmed protestors in October 2003. This time, however, the violence was not orchestrated by the central government, but by regional officials: departmental prefects in league with civic committees. Administratively organized similar to France, Bolivia is divided into nine departments, each run by a prefect, while civic committees are made up of a handful of unelected, local, commercial-landed elites who preside over one of the most unequal distributions of land and wealth in the world. These public- and private-sector authorities, in turn, are allied with cypto-fascist paramilitary youth gangs armed with baseball bats, clubs, chains, guns, and in the case of the massacre at El Porvenir, official vehicles. These groups have made Bolivia’s eastern lowlands ungovernable for the Morales administration.

It may be helpful for U.S. readers to consider Bolivia’s eastern lowlands as analogous to Dixie. In the 1950s and 60s, working with governors and mayors of states and localities, white supremacist paramilitary groups terrorized African Americans. The campaign of terror was intended to preserve a status quo that benefited a tiny class of wealthy white landowners, against which the federal government—under Eisenhower and Kennedy—hesitated to act.

Imagine, though, that African Americans had comprised an overwhelming majority of the U.S. population, that Kennedy was Black, and that he had come to power on the back of serial insurrections led by African Americans. Imagine that, in response, white supremacists not only massacred Blacks, but also blockaded roads, blew up oil pipelines, and burned and looted federal government offices and installations.

The limits of the analogy with the Jim Crow south are significant, but another analogy—from a century earlier, the 1850s and 60s—transcends them. The southern secessionist movement sought to preserve the republic of slavery and extend it through the west to the Pacific. The movement mobilized a mass following and mounted an armed challenge to the federal government. Such analogies help convey the virulence of what one commentator has labeled a “revolt of the rich,” as well as the scope of the challenge posed by a wealthy white minority to a government backed by a majority of workers and campesinos of Indian descent, a government without historical precedent.

Massive support for the central government was ratified as recently as August 10 in the recall referendum in which Morales increased his overall share of the vote to 67%—up from 54% when he was elected president in late 2005. Morales improved his standing in his strongholds—the cities and countryside of the western highlands and valleys, as well as the coca-growing regions in the Yungas and the Chapare. But more importantly, he made inroads in the heart of opposition country in Beni, Pando, and Tarija, where he won an additional 20% compared to 2005. In Pando, nearly half the population voted in favor of Morales. No Bolivian president has ever has ever had such broad appeal across the nation.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/hylton09172008.html

[EFerrari]

2. Mil gracias. I posted the link to my OpEd article.

These firestarters have been so busy, it's hard to know which fire to attend to. So, thank you for bringing this here. :applause:

[Judi Lynn]

3. Is a U.S.-Approved Coup Under Way in Bolivia?

Is a U.S.-Approved Coup Under Way in Bolivia?

By Benjamin Dangl, AlterNet. Posted September 23, 2008.

Bolivian President Evo Morales announces that a coup d'etat by right-wing regional governors is under way.


On Monday, Sept. 15, Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived in Santiago, Chile for an emergency meeting of Latin American leaders that convened to seek a resolution to the recent conflict in Bolivia. Upon his arrival, Morales said, "I have come here to explain to the presidents of South America the civic coup d'etat by governors in some Bolivian states in recent days. This is a coup in the past few days by the leaders of some provinces, with the takeover of some institutions, the sacking and robbery of some government institutions and attempts to assault the national police and the armed forces."

Morales was arriving from his country, where the smoke was still rising from a week of right-wing government opposition violence that left the nation paralyzed, at least 30 people dead, and businesses, government and human rights buildings destroyed.

During the same week, Morales declared Philip Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador in Bolivia, a "persona non grata" for "conspiring against democracy" and for his ties to the Bolivian opposition. The recent conflict in Bolivia and the subsequent meeting of presidents raise the questions: What led to this meltdown? Whose side is the Bolivian military on? And what does the Bolivian crisis and regional reaction tell us about the new power bloc of South American nations?

Massacre in Pando

On Sept. 11, in the tropical Bolivian department of Pando, which borders Brazil and Peru, a thousand pro-Morales men, women and children were heading toward Cobija, the department's capital, to protest the right-wing Gov. Leopoldo Fernández and his thugs' takeover of the city and airport.

According to press reports and eyewitness accounts, when the protesters arrived at a bridge 7 kilometers outside the town of Porvenir, they were ambushed by assassins hired and trained by Fernández. Snipers in the treetops shot down on the unarmed campesinos. Shirley Segovia, a Porvenir resident, recalled to Bolpress, "We were killed like pigs, with machine guns, with rifles, with shotguns, with revolvers. The campesinos had only brought their teeth, clubs and slingshots, they didn't bring rifles. After the first shots, some fled to the river Tahuamanu, but they were followed and shot at." Others reported being tortured; days later the death toll rose to 30, with dozens wounded and more than 100 still missing. Roberto Tito, a farmer who was present at the conflict, said, "This was a massacre of farmers; this is something that we should not allow."

More:
http://www.alternet.org/audits/99832/is_a_u.s.-approved_coup_under_way_in_bolivia/

[Judi Lynn]

4. U.S. reaps what it sows in Bolivia

U.S. reaps what it sows in Bolivia

By Larry Birns and Jessica Bryant
September 22, 2008

The near breakdown of relations between the United States and Bolivia is a perfect example of the baleful consequences of the inherent disrespect the U.S. historically has exhibited toward the region.

Despite La Paz's and Washington's ideological differences, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon might have made one more effort to indicate a clear U.S. commitment to the territorial integrity of Bolivia. Vigorous support of President Evo Morales in the face of the opposition's reckless strategy on the part of Santa Cruz and the eastern region pro-autonomy leaders might have provided a compelling pressure on the secessionists, who were more interested in getting their hands on the region's hydrocarbon windfall revenues than in avoiding the violence that tragically has claimed many lives.

It is clear that the United States remains blithely removed from the multifaceted developments that are taking place in an increasingly self-directed Latin America. Long distracted by Iraq and its war on terrorism, Washington would be wise to turn its attention to its vital hemispheric interests or risk seeing them washed away. These comprise far more than drugs and terrorism.

If the United States is to play a constructive role there, it must architect a new relationship with the region that can be deemed credible. This means doing more than simply lobbing Parthian shots at what it believes to be recalcitrant leaders.

The White House must be less concerned over the resurgence of socialism than the demise of democracy. If such a repositioning does not soon happen, it may be too late for Washington to develop mutually beneficial policies toward the region. Latin American-led development strategies, such as the Caracas-inspired Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, could appear more relevant to the region's well-being than any U.S.-imposed free-trade agreements.

Also, the fledgling Union of South American Nations joins the Organization of American States as a multilateral, democratic body capable of facilitating regional integration and conflict resolution. The huge difference is that the United States is not a member of UNASUR. It is precisely this difference that could lead to the OAS being supplanted by the new group.

While the United States may rebuff President Morales' socialist advocacy, it cannot deny that his reform agenda is supported by a majority of Bolivians. Approved twice in elections deemed legitimate by international monitors, Morales has clearly validated his continuing mandate, earning a greater percentage than ever witnessed in a Bolivian vote during the Aug. 10 referendum. The opposition's attempt to steamroll the government with the departmental results, which demonstrated the support of local autonomy initiatives, provides yet another example of it playing fast and loose with Bolivian democracy.

More:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080922/news_mz1e22birns.html

[Peace Patriot]

5. The Bushwhacks have spent $89 MILLION to destory democracy in Bolivia!

$89 fucking million dollars.

"...some of its activities were then taken up by USAID, which refuses to disclose some of its recipients and programs. USAID spent $89 million in Bolivia last year. This is a significant sum relative to the size of Bolivia's economy; proportionally in the U.S. economy it would be equivalent to about $100 billion, or close to what the United States is currently spending on military operations in Iraq."

------

All I can say is that it is a very sturdy democracy, indeed, that can withstand the mayhem purchased with $89 million--as I think Bolivia can and will, with friends and allies on every side, and this remarkable unity and common purpose that has been developing in South America for some time, and recently manifested in their creation of the South American "Common Market" (UNASUR). Alone, Bolivia would likely fall. But Bolivia is not alone. And that is the real strength of this remarkable democracy movement in South America. It is continent-wide. Its leaders have seen every kind of Corpo/fascist, U.S.-funded effort to destroy them, from recent events, like the Bush-backed coup attempt in Venezuela, to more distant events like Plan Condor and the 1970s-1980s dictatorships, and some have personally experienced torture and the threat of death at the hands of U.S.-backed fascists. Alone, Bolivia cannot stand. But together in common cause, having each others' backs, South America can not only defend itself--peacefully and democratically--it can prosper, and it can become an example to the world, and to us.

$89 million fucking wasted on murder and mayhem, while we get bankrupted by the same bastards who tried to destroy democracy in Bolivia. The evil of this is so appalling. It may be a "small" amount, in the context of Bushwhack thievery, which beggars description. And it's not small in Bolivia, where most people live on pennies per day. But it is difficult to fathom how cold and dark are the hearts that conceived doing this to a country whose people have suffered so much, and are just now on the verge of accomplishing a miracle--the achievement of democracy and social justice by peaceful means. It is the very heart of darkness.